L-C men rise to challenge, knock off Oregon Tech
Copyright of The Lewiston
Morning Tribune
By JOSH WRIGHT of the Tribune
The past nine days might prove, in retrospect, to be
Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team's most taxing, if not stress-packed,
stretch of the season.
Warrior coach George Pfeifer went as far as calling it a saga.
While it's not quite finished -- L-C travels to Gonzaga this afternoon
for an exhibition game -- the team has to take solace in how the meaningful
part of the it ended Saturday night.
Danny Allen and newcomer John Moore helped the Warriors pull away late,
as they knocked off Oregon Tech 80-66 at Warrior Gym in the final night of
the Cannon's Building Material Center Tournament.
OIT, which won the NAIA Divison II national championship last season, was
ranked No. 1 in the nation in the preseason poll.
Here's how Pfeifer, in his usual passionate tone, summarized the
Warriors' past week and a half:
"I don't think you can really grip (what this team has gone through) if
you don't take a 1,350-mile van trip -- not a bus trip, a van trip -- play
three games in a row, come back to play on Wednesday, then come back to play
a Warner Pac team that's pretty damn good and turn back right around and
play the No. 1 team in the country.
"This to me was far and away the most important part of the saga."
A gritty effort by Moore and the penetrating quickness of Allen were too
much for the Owls, who fumbled away a small lead they had midway through the
second half. The Warriors got up by as much as 18 points in the waning
moments.
Allen poured in 28 points -- most of which came via dribble penetration
in the first half. The senior also went 15-for-15 from the charity stripe.
Moore, on the other hand, scored the lion's share of his points slashing
to the basket. During one 90-second stretch when the Warriors were opening a
comfortable margin, he gave the team a boost with a nifty baseline move that
ended in a dunk, then slipped in a reverse layup.
"The Moore kid really hurt us," OIT coach Dan Miles said. "He's pretty
athletic. We couldn't match up with him."
Moore, a junior college transfer from Chicago, was also perfect from the
three-throw line, making all six of his attempts.
The Warriors (5-3) were once again without the services of Joey Ray.
After sitting out L-C's first five games following offseason foot surgery,
the senior guard had played the last two outings. But Ray didn't see the
court in this game.
Spencer Bishop and Justin Fraser were effective in filling his void at
the shooting guard spot.
Levell Hesia paced Oregon Tech with 22 points, all but seven of which
came from beyond the arc.
Oregon Tech (1-1)
Alex Carlson 4-7 3-3 11, Alassane Bakayoko 0-3 0-0 0, Levell Hesia 7-13
3-4 22, Michael Nunes 5-12 0-0 11, Danny Mills 4-8 0-0 10, Andre Lawrence
3-9 1-2 8, Souleyman Traore 0-0 0-0 0, Max Gotzler 1-5 2-2 4, Peter Longgood
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 11-11 66.
LEWIS-CLARK STATE COLLEGE (5-3)
Skyler Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, James Idoko 2-5 1-2 5, Martin Brothers 2-8 2-2
6, Danny Allen 6-12 15-15 28, Justin Fraser 2-5 2-3 7, Spencer Bishop 2-2
0-0 4, John Moore 8-14 6-6 22, Chris Pitts 1-1 2-2 4, Jared Tikker 2-5 0-0
2. Totals 25-54 28-30 80.
Halftime score -- OIT 34, LCSC 33. Three-point goals -- OIT 9-20 (Carlson
0-3, Hesia 5-8, Nunes 1-3, Milles 2-3, Lawrence 1-2, Gotzler 1-2); LSCC 2-9
(Wilson 0-1, Allen 1-3, Fraser 1-4, Tikker 0-1). Total fouls -- OIT 22; LCSC
12. Fouled out -- Nunes. Technical fouls -- Nunes. Rebounds -- OIT 28
(Carlson, Nunes 7); LCSC 36 (Brothers 8). Assists -- OIT 11 (Gotzler 4);
LCSC 11 (Allen 5).
